


Food of Love

by kooili



Category: Holby City
Genre: Episode Related, F/F, Long-Distance Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 09:10:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14766716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kooili/pseuds/kooili
Summary: Through words and pictures of various meals, Serena and Bernie learn to communicate and compromise.





	Food of Love

**Author's Note:**

> A continuation of S20E21: Belonging.

“So let me get this straight. Sending me a picture of your breakfast is the equivalent of saying you miss me?”

Bernie almost winced as Serena’s voice drifted incredulously across the crackle of the phone line.

“Isn’t it?” Bernie answered hopefully.

There was a pause, then an audible sigh and Bernie could just imagine Serena closing her eyes and massaging the bridge of her nose while she contemplated her answer. She was on the brink of muttering an apology when Serena finally spoke.

“Are you trying to make a point because of the list?”

“What?” Bernie frowned, a little confused by the non sequitur.

“You know perfectly well what I mean, Berenice.”

“No.” Bernie’s answer was a beat too slow and Serena caught the hesitation straightaway, her tone a little softer as she probed.

“Bernie, what is it?”

The was a much longer pause and, for an instant, Serena thought they had been cut off.

“Darling…”

She finally heard the sound of the phone shifting in Bernie’s grasp and let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. The silence stretched out and Serena began to wonder if she had to resort yet again to teasing, cajoling, and wrenching the thoughts out of her partner’s head one word at a time.

“I feel as if I’m letting you - us - down. I’m not good at this,” Bernie eventually said, relieving Serena of the need to.

Serena frowned. “What?”

“Communicating.” Bernie answered.

Serena thought back to her list, remembered with stark clarity that “improving the frequency and consistency of communication” was the first point on it and groaned. Not only that, she had titled the email, “In order of importance.” The past few days had been filled with back and forth snippy emails and passive aggressive text messages. It was the final reply Serena had sent which finally tipped the situation over the edge.

_I’m so sorry to be such an inconvenience, Ms Wolfe. We’ll speak at some point. When you have time in your busy schedule._

She would have preferred to forget that last message but she had snapped angrily; physically, mentally and emotionally drained after a long day when Bernie’s terse message saying she had to postpone their planned phone call flashed across the screen. Serena thought back to the moment of supreme relief she felt when she finally saw Bernie’s name pop up on her phone, after nearly twenty four hours of radio silence. It had been the picture they were currently discussing.

“I think it’s safe to say that we both still have a lot to learn about communication,” Serena admitted.

“Yes, but you have to agree that you are much better at it than I am,” Bernie replied instantly.

“I don’t understand where you’re going with this.”

Serena could hear a frustrated uptake of breath before Bernie blurted an answer. “I’m just not good with words.”

“Okay...” Serena steeled herself, preparing the usual speech for admonishing her partner when she was being too hard on herself.

“No, wait, before you start saying what we both know you’re going to,” Bernie continued, “I just meant that I’m better at expressing how much I love you with actions.”

Serena thought of the little things Bernie was so good at that never failed to make her smile - her favourite pastry and coffee on the desk in the morning, an extra shift to help clear her burgeoning in-tray, watching Mary Beard with Jason so she didn’t have to - and her heart clenched. She would have traded her soul to the devil without blinking if it meant erasing the six thousand mile gap between them at that very moment.

“I love you.”

“I know, darling,” Bernie murmured. “And I miss you. So very much.”

They shared a moment of silence, punctuated only by the sound of their breathing.

“So,” Serena spoke first, “a full English breakfast. I thought you didn’t like baked beans.”

“You're right but I didn’t know the Swahili word for beans to order it without. And it was dinner, actually,” Bernie answered, the smile on her face mirrored in her voice. “Think of it as us sharing a meal together. Since we can’t FaceTime as often as we like, a picture would be the next best thing.”

Serena laughed. “My very own action woman. What am I going to do with you?”

Bernie pondered for a moment before answering. “Send me a photo of your dinner?”

* * * * *

It was non-stop at work and it was three days later before Serena had a chance to fulfill Bernie’s request. She took a snapshot of her plate of defrosted cottage pie and attached a short note before hitting send.

Bernie replied the next day with a photo of her breakfast - a bowl of thin porridge and a mug of chai. Serena stared at the last bite of her chocolate croissant before polishing it off with a gulp of double latte, trying not to feel guilty for the relative indulgence.

The next picture Serena sent was a sandwich out of the deli. It was dinner, she tagged, but only because she didn’t feel up to anything more than tearing open a cardboard packet after spending eighteen hours at work.

Bernie’s reply was a voicemail left in the early hours of the morning, gently reminding Serena that she needed to eat properly and take care of herself. And that she would call the following evening at ten, Serena’s time.

The pictures became a routine and Serena joked, after Bernie sent her one of a bottle of coke, a packet of crisps and the bag of popcorn she was eating while watching a movie on her laptop, that it was like date night. She was rewarded by the loud familiar honk of laughter as she watched, grinning madly at the face of the woman she loved on the screen of her laptop.

It was days later that Serena finally realised that - although Bernie had texted and emailed - she hadn’t sent any pictures lately. Had Bernie grown tired of their little exchange? Serena hoped not - she had started looking forward to ‘date night’. She glanced round her desk and looked for something she could photograph for Bernie and settled for the only items she could find. A half-eaten Mars bar and a bottle of sparkling water.

The ward was busy and it was near the end of her shift when Serena finally checked her phone. Her face brightened immediately when she saw Bernie’s name in a notification for a picture message, She clicked onto it immediately and saw that it was a photo of sausages and mash and limp looking carrots and peas in what looked like a compartmentalised takeaway container.

_Dinner. A little sparse but I’m expecting breakfast to be a lot nicer. x B_

Serena screwed her lips, deciding on a response before typing it out.

_It better be, darling. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. x S_

Serena tucked her phone away into her bag and regarded the piles of folders sitting on her desk. A small voice from the edge of her conscience squeaked that she should try and clear some of it before going home. It was immediately silenced by a rumble from her belly.

Work would just have to wait.

* * * * *

“Ms Campbell.”

Serena turned at the sound of Donna’s voice. Her decision take an early night was the best one she had made in a long while. She’d woken up refreshed and was out of bed and heading for the ensuite without even hitting the snooze button on the alarm.

“Yes, Nurse Jackson, what can I do for you?”

The young woman paused briefly before lifting up the folder in her hand. “You probably don’t have time to deal with this.”

Serena cut her off by plucking the folder out of her grasp and flipping it open in one swift motion.

“An abdominal abscess needing drained.”

Donna nodded tentatively. “I’ll see if Dr McKendrick..”

Serena smiled broadly and shook her head. “No need for that. Have a treatment room prepped and I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Donna stared briefly at Serena’s back as she made her way towards the office, before heading towards the nearest available side room. She wondered briefly what had put the boss in such a good mood before deciding that it didn’t really matter as long as it worked.

* * * * *

“Half hour obs for the next four hours and let me know if anything changes.” Serena took one last look at the folder before handing it back to Donna, flashing her a bright smile in the process.

Donna nodded, making the appropriate notes before stowing the folder away in its usual spot at the foot of the patient’s bed.

“Good night, Ms Campbell?”

Serena pressed down on the sanitiser, squishing the usual amount into her palm and rubbing her hands together before answering. “Yes. I had the luxury of a whole eight hours of sleep for the first time in more than a week.’

Donna nodded sagely. “Ah, yes. Haven’t been there lately but I know what you mean.”

“I highly recommend it.” Serena smiled. “And unless the ward is in imminent danger of going up in a ball of flames, I will be in my office with a cinnamon roll and a double latte for the next half an hour.”

* * * * *

Bernie stepped through the double glass doors, slowing down and finally stopping as she neared the centre of the lobby. As much as she lived for her work in Kenya, this was home. She took a deep breath, relishing the familiar smells and sounds - god she had missed all of this - before pulling the small box from her coat pocket. She paused, fidgeting, twirling it round in her palm, suddenly nervous of what she was planning to do next.

The phone in her pocket hummed and she pulled it out. It was a message from Serena - a picture of a cinnamon roll and the usual Pulses cup next to it.

_Breakfast. And thinking of you x._

Bernie smiled and was about to put her phone away when an idea bloomed in her head. She turned away from the lifts and headed toward the smell of caffeine and baked pastry.

* * * * *

Serena turned away from the unending list of emails when her phone buzzed. It was a message from Bernie and she tapped on it instantly, wondering what the latest photo would be. The picture quickly appeared and Serena stared eagerly.

It was a picture of a large cup of coffee.

She peered a little closer, increasingly confused as she recognised the printing on the side of the cardboard cup. In fact, it was practically identical to the one sitting on her desk. Serena lifted her phone, her thumb at the ready to tap out a message when a sound made her stop.

“Hey you.”

Bernie stood smiling, leaning against the frame of the door. Serena stared at the sight before her, not quite believing what she was seeing. She rose instinctively to her feet and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out and she clamped it shut, deciding that gawping goldfish was not an attractive look.

Bernie covered the two steps needed to bring her up to the desk and her hand covered Serena’s the moment she reached it.

“What...” The single syllable barely squeaked out of Serena’s throat as she clutched Bernie’s hand.

“Surprise.” Bernie’s smile widened into a grin as she produced the coffee, placing it in front of Serena.

The fingers tangled between hers tightened and Bernie let herself be pulled forward and enveloped in a breath-stealing embrace as Serena tugged her close. Their eyes locked, unblinking, fluttering closed only when lips met. The kiss was gentle at first but it deepened rapidly as months of longing and pent up desire took over. Serena moaned, her hand buried deep into a soft tumble of blonde curls, pulling Bernie even closer, pressing their bodies together. Encouraged, Bernie surged forward, pushing Serena’s backside onto the edge of the desk before taking full advantage of the added leverage to gently suck Serena’s lower lip.

It took the sound of voices - a pair of porters talking just outside the office - to break the haze, reminding both of them where they were. Serena took one last taste of Bernie’s lips before pulling back.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Serena groaned, burying her face in the crook of Bernie’s shoulder, not quite ready to let her go. It was illogical, but a small part of her couldn’t help thinking that this was a hallucination and Bernie would disappear into a puff of air if she stopped holding her.

“I’ve missed you too, darling,” Bernie murmured.

“How…” Serena started asking but Bernie stopped her with a shush.

“I’ll explain it all later.” She cleared her throat nervously, stepping away from Serena’s embrace. “I have something else for you.”

Serena watched, intrigued, as Bernie reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, tissue-covered box and fiddled with it nervously.

“I know we’ve not talked about this but all these months being apart has made me think about what matters most to me. What I’m ready to compromise on and what I’m not.”

Serena was almost afraid to ask but she had to. “And what are you willing to compromise on?”

“Being apart from you. For now at least, because we both have other commitments in our lives, even if it’s going to be hard for both of us. But I know we’re strong enough to see it through because the one thing I will never give up is having you as part of my life forever.”

Bernie cracked the box open and held it out shyly in front of Serena. “So, Serena Wendy Campbell, will you do me the honour of being my wife?”

Serena stared at the bright golden band nestled in a bed of blue velvet, her vision shimmering over, her eyes wet with joy.

“Yes.”


End file.
